Collins Cobuild English Grammar

‘I’m not going to change my mind.’ – ‘Nor should you.’

‘I’m not joking, Philip.’ – ‘Neither am I.’

Note that you can also do this within a sentence.

I don’t know what you’re talking about, Miss Haynes, and I’m pretty sure you don’t either.

I will never know what was in his head at the time, nor will anyone else.

I can’t do anything about this and neither can you.

Reference Section

Pronunciation guide

R1      Here is a list of the phonetic symbols for English:

British English vowel sounds

  heart, start, calm.

æ  act, mass, lap.

aI  dive, cry, mine.

aIə fire, tyre, buyer.

a  out, down, loud.

aə flour, tower, sour.

e  met, lend, pen.

eI  say, main, weight.

eə  fair, care, wear.

I  fit, win, list.

i  feed, me, beat.

Iə near, beard, clear.

ɒ  lot, lost, spot.

ə  note, phone, coat.

ɔ  more, cord, claw.

ɔI  boy, coin, joint.

  could, stood, hood.

u  you, use, choose.

ə sure, pure, cure.

  turn, third, word.

  but, fund, must.

ə  (the weak vowel in) butter, about, forgotten.

     American English vowel sounds

  calm, drop, fall.

  draw, saw.

æ  act, mass, lap.

aI  drive, cry, lie.

aiər  fire, tire, buyer.

au  out, down, loud.

auər  flour, tower, sour.

e  met, lend, pen.

ei  say, main, weight.

e^ər  fair, care, wear.

I  fit, win, list.

i  feed, me, beat.

I^ər  cheer, hear, clear.

ou  note, phone, coat.

ɔ  more, cord, sort.

ɔi  boy, coin, joint.

  could, stood, hood.

u  you, use, choose.

j^ər  sure, pure, cure.

r  turn, third, word.

  but, fund, must.

ə  (the weak vowel in) about, account, cancel.

consonant sounds

b  bed

d  done

f  fit

g  good

h  hat

j  yellow

k  king

l  lip

m  mat

n  nine

p  pay

r  run

s  soon

t  talk

v  van

w  win

x  loch

z  zoo

ʃ  ship

ʒ  measure

ŋ  sing

tʃ  cheap

θ  thin

ð  then

dʒ  joy

Here is a list of the vowel letters:

a e i o u

Here is a list of the consonant letters:

b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z

The consonant y, when it falls in the middle or at the end of a syllable, has the status of a vowel and has a range of pronunciations similar to i.

Forming plurals of countable nouns

R2      Information on which nouns have plurals is given in Chapter 1 (1.14 to 1.193).

R3      In most cases, the plural is written s.

hat hats tree trees

R4      The plural is written es after sh, ss, x, or s, and it is pronounced /Iz/.

bush bushes glass glasses box boxes bus buses

The plural is also written es and pronounced /Iz/ after ch, when the ch is pronounced /tʃ/.

church churches match matches speech speeches

R5      When the s follows one of the sounds /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, or /θ/, it is pronounced /s/.

belief beliefs week weeks cap caps pet pets moth moths

R6      When the s follows one of the sounds /S/, /z/, or /ʤ/, it is pronounced /IΖ/.

service services prize prizes age ages

R7      Some nouns that end with the sound /θ/, for example mouth, have their plural forms pronounced as ending in /ðΖ/. With others, such as bath and path, the pronunciation can be either /θs/ or /ðΖ/. You may need to check the pronunciations of words like these in a Cobuild dictionary.

R8      In most other cases the s is pronounced /z/.

bottle bottles degree degrees doctor doctors idea ideas leg legs system systems tab tabs

R9      With nouns that end in a consonant letter followed by y, you substitute ies for y to form the plural.

country countries lady ladies opportunity opportunities

With nouns that end in a vowel letter followed by y, you just add s to form the plural.

boy boys day days valley valleys

R10    There are a few nouns ending in f or fe where you form the plural by substituting ves for f or fe.

calf calves elf elves half halves knife knives leaf leaves life lives loaf loaves scarf scarves sheaf sheaves shelf shelves thief thieves wife wives wolf wolves

R11    With many nouns that end in o, you just add s to form the plural.